4 000 more workers to join fight against Covid-19
THE KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health will employ more than 4 000 health care and general workers as part of its plans to fight the spread of Covid-19 in the province.
This was announced by KZN Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu during her visit to the Clairwood Hospital in Durban on Tuesday.
According to Simelane-Zulu, the province has been extremely short staffed when it comes to professional nurses, enrolled nurses’ assistants and enrolled nurses.
“We also don’t have enough clerks and general orderlies in our facilities. We have been engaging with the office of the premier and provincial treasury about this initiative. We are excited that within the next few weeks, we will be employing a large number of nurses. There is no way you can run a hospital with just doctors, you need all the people within the structures.
“This is to make sure that your workforce is not overworked and burnt out. Particularly in this time of Covid19, you don’t expose your workforce unnecessarily. We hope (that this is understood) and call on all the health professionals that are at home to apply,” said Simelane-Zulu.
According to the department, there were already 4 773 posts that have been advertised. This included 2 408 professional nurses, 1 968 enrolled nurses, 230 general orderlies, 70 ward clerks and 97 intensive care unit nurses.
Ahead of the expected rise of Covid-19 infections, Simelane-Zulu officially opened a 275-bed quarantine site in the Clairwood Hospital.
She said the province has more than 5 000 beds available for quarantine.
“Although we are also investing in field hospitals that will be placed in several venues such as the Pietermaritzburg Royal Showgrounds and the Durban Exhibition Centre, renovating our own facilities was a must so that our facilities are useful even after the pandemic.
“We also want to make sure our facilities meet National Health Insurance requirements so that they can be accredited,” she added.
Chairperson of the Public Servants Association of SA in KwaZulu-Natal, Mlungisi Ndlovu, said he welcomed the addition of a quarantine facility at Clairwood Hospital.
“This type of infrastructure is very important to fight, not only Covid-19, but also other diseases and infections. The fact that the department will be employing nurses is a good thing and we are happy about it.
From time to time, he said, some of the nurses and front line workers would get infected.
“It’s important that your human capital plan is improved. This plan is a good one and we hope that it will touch all other categories, because in the hospital environment, you don’t only need a nurse, but also other staff as well.”